Method of isolation and purification of trypsin from pronase protease and use thereof

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides methods of isolation and purification of  Streptomyces griseus  trypsin (SGT) from PRONASE protease mixture in a single affinity chromatography step and uses of the purified SGT.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of U.S. Ser. No. 11/788,714, filed Apr.20, 2007, which is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 10/944,218, filed Sep.17, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,223,595, which is a divisional ofapplication Ser. No. 10/006,223, filed Dec. 10, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No.6,830,917, issued Dec. 14, 2004, each of which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

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REFERENCE TO A “SEQUENCE LISTING,” A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAMLISTING APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISK.

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FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to methods of isolation andpurification of Streptomyces griseus trypsin (SGT) from PRONASE proteasemixture in a single affinity chromatography step and uses of thepurified SGT.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Trypsin is a serine protease present in the digestive tract of a widevariety of mammals. Its function is the hydrolytic cleavage of peptidebonds, thus reducing the size of large proteins and making themaccessible to further degradation by other proteases. Trypsin is used inbiotechnological applications, especially in the cultivation ofmammalian cells, where it serves as tool for the disintegration of largecell aggregates, or for the removal of cells from surfaces likemicrocarriers or cultivation trays. Trypsin is also used as a proteindegrading enzyme in the processing of non-trypsin sensitive biopolymers.Because of its well known specificity, trypsin is also used as aselective protein cleavage tool in both analytical and preparativeprocesses. Trypsin can be inactivated or inhibited by a number ofspecific or non-specific protease inhibitors, many of them belonging tothe serpine family. The most widely used in biotechnologicalapplications is a trypsin inhibitor from soy beans. As most of thesetrypsin inhibitors are very specific, they are inactive against othercontaminating proteases.

Trypsin is typically prepared from the duodenal glands of various animalspecies and purified to different grades of purity. The purification oftrypsin can be performed by a number of different biochemical processes,including precipitation, ion exchange chromatography and affinitychromatography. It has been shown that prepurified bovine trypsin (TypeI) binds to benzamidine immobilized on an insoluble carrier and can beeluted by high concentrations of guanidine or arginine or by decreasingthe pH of the eluant (Ellouali et al. (1991) Chromsymp. 2215:255-265).The mammalian pancreas from which trypsin is derived also contains theserine protease chymotrypsin, which is very similar to trypsin in itsphysiochemical properties, including the interaction with and affinityto amidine derivatives. As a result, these two proteins are difficult toseparate. Depending on the purification method, purified trypsinpreparations therefore may contain varying amounts of contaminatingenzymes, particularly-chymotrypsin. Furthermore, mammalian-derivedtrypsin may contain adventitious agents, such as viruses and prions.Since the discovery of the action of TSE agents, and the possibility oftheir transmission to humans, there is an ongoing discussion about theuse of human or animal derived materials in biotechnology processesproviding pharmaceuticals for human use.

PRONASE protease mixture from the microbial organism Streptomycesgriseus(S.g.), is a commercially available alternative to trypsinprepared from animal tissues. PRONASE protease mixture has been used forthe preparation of primary cell cultures from tissues and for thedetachment of cells from surfaces, microcarrier cell cultures and growthof VERO cells in suspension in serum-free media (Weinstein (1966) Exper.Cell Res. 43:234-236; Manousos et al. (1980) In vitro 16:507-515, Litwin(1992) Cytotechn. 10:169-174). The exact mechanism of its action is notknown. PRONASE protease mixture is known to be a mixture of differentenzymes, including various types of endopeptidases, (serine andmetalloproteases), exopeptidases (carboxypeptidase and aminopeptidase),neutral protease, chymotrypsin, trypsin, carboxypeptidase,aminopeptidase, and neutral and alkaline phosphatase.

After enzyme treatment, the activity of trypsin is usually neutralizedby the addition of fetal calf serum, which contains a number of specificand non-specific protease inhibitors. However, media free of serum andprotein (particularly from mammalian sources) are preferred in cellculture media used for production of vaccine and therapeutic proteins.Therefore, use of serum-free media, which are devoid of any trypsininhibitor activity, makes it necessary to identify new sources ofinhibitor activity. Because PRONASE protease mixture is a mixture of avariety of proteases, inhibition of protease activity requires a mixtureof different inhibitors, leading to a very complex and expensiveprocess. The protein load arising from use of PRONASE protease mixtureand the composition of inhibitors in a serum-free culture thereforewould be much higher compared to a culture using mammalian-derivedtrypsin and specific trypsin-inhibitor. Furthermore, the addition ofPRONASE protease mixture to the culture medium would also adverselyeffect the purification process, because more protein is present in themedium.

The trypsin-like activity of PRONASE protease mixture, commonly known asStreptomyces griseus trypsin (SGT) shows a sequence identity ofapproximately 33% to bovine trypsin (Olafson et al. (1975) Biochem14:1168-1177). Streptomyces griseus trypsin has been purified bychromatographic techniques using different types of ion exchange resins.These methods typically use stable matrices, which minimize the problemof bleeding of the ligand into the product during elution. Thesemethods, however, have relatively low selectivity, leading topurification factors in the range of <10. As a result, to achieve a highdegree of purity, several steps have to be combined, which in turn maycause autodigestion of the trypsin and therefore loss of activity.Purification by ion-exchange chromatography on CM-Sephadex, with furtherpurification performed by rechromatography on an ion exchange column hasbeen described by Jurasek et al. (1971) Can. J. Biochem. 49:1195-1201;and Olafson et al. (1975a) Biochem. 14:1168-1.177; and (1975b) Biochem.14: 1161-1167. Miyata et al. (1991) Cell Structure and Function16:39-43, describes a three step cation exchange chromatography processto purify SGT. SGT is found to migrate as a single band in PAGE with amolecular weight of about 30,000 and having an esterase activity higherthan bovine trypsin as determined by BAEE assay. However, even SGTpurified by three step chromatography purification methods was found tobe slightly contaminated by carboxypeptidase B-like activity.

SGT has also been purified from PRONASE protease mixture by affinitychromatography using oligopeptides derived from tryptic digest ofsalmine as highly specific ligand for SGT. Elution of the trypsin-likeactivity from the mixture of protease in PRONASE protease mixture withHCl revealed purified SGT which was, however, found to be contaminatedby carboxypeptidase B-like activity (Kasei et al. (1975) J. Biochem.78.:653-662; Yokosawa et al. (1976) J. Biochem. 79:757-763). Foranalytical purposes only, SGT was also separated from PRONASE proteasemixture by affinophoresis using benzamidine as a ligand (Shimura et al.(1982) J. Biochem. 92:1615-1622).

There exists a need for a simple large-scale method for isolation andseparation of the active trypsin-like fraction of PRONASE proteasemixture. This would allow a controlled system for use in cell culturemethods and provide a defined activity of the fraction from a microbialsource, which would not bear the risk of contaminants of humanpathogens.

There also exists a need to avoid contaminants derived from cell culturemedium additives during cell propagation/growth, biomass production andproduct production process. Reduction of the protein load in a cellculture medium would allow production of highly pure protein productsusing conventional purification methods.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide for amethod for isolation of purified Streptomyces griseus trypsin (SGT) fromPRONASE protease mixture.

It is also an object of the invention to provide for a preparation ofpurified SGT having high specific activity.

It is another object of the invention to provide for use of purified SGTin biotechnology processes.

It is another object of the invention to provide for use of usingpurified SGT for production of a biomass of eukaryotic cells.

It is another object of the invention to provide for use of purified SGTfor production of virus or virus antigen.

It is also an object of the invention to provide for use of purified SGTfor production of biological products with cells passaged andsubcultured with purified SGT only.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the SDS-PAGE of ion exchange chromatography with lane 1:Eluate from ion exchange chromatograph according to Example 1A and lane2: purified SGT after elution with 1 M arginine from affinitychromatograph according to Example 1B.

FIG. 2 shows the SDS-PAGE of unpurified Streptomyces griseus PRONASEprotease mixture and purified SGT, with lane 1: unpurified PRONASEprotease mixture, lane 2: flow through of the affinity chromatographyand lane 3: purified Streptomyces griseus trypsin after affinitychromatography and elution with 1 M arginine.

FIG. 3 shows western blot analysis of two different lots of purified SGTafter affinity chromatography and elution with 1 M arginine.

FIG. 4 shows the chromatogram of the reversed Phase HPLC of the purifiedSGT.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a simple method for the largescale purification of Streptomyces griseus trypsin (SGT). The methods ofthe invention are useful for the large scale purification of SGT, and insome embodiments which utilize a physiologically acceptable elutingagent, provide a stable SGT preparation ready-to-use for variousbiotechnological processes.

In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a method ofisolating SGT by a single chromatography step by contacting the PRONASEprotease mixture to an immobilized affinity moiety (e.g., an amidine, aguanidine, or an amine containing species) and eluting the trypsinselectively from the column with a member of the same classes ofcompounds used as the affinity moiety. The eluting agent acts as acompetitor to the affinity moiety that is immobilized to the carrier forthe SGT. Thus, in some embodiments, the eluting agent is selected tohave greater affinity for the SGT than the affinity moiety.

According to some embodiments of the invention the PRONASE proteasemixture is contacted with an immobilized affinity column, which includesan amidine. As used herein, the term “amidine” includes amidine andderivatives thereof (e.g., in which the hydrogen atom attached to theamidino nitrogen (═NH) is replaced by substituted or unsubstituted alkylgroups, substituted or unsubstituted heteroalkyl groups, substituted orunsubstituted aryl groups, and substituted or unsubstituted heteroarylgroups). In these embodiments, the amidine has the structure:

in which the circle with the inset “C” represents a component of thecolumn or other solid support. The symbols R¹, R², and R⁴ are eachmembers independently selected from H, substituted or unsubstitutedalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted heteroalkyl, substituted orunsubstituted aryl, and substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl groups.R³ can be either present or absent and can have any of the identitiesset forth above, with the exception of H. Representative amidinederivatives include substituted or unsubstituted benzamidine species.Amidines that can be used include, but are not limited to, benzamidinehydrochloride; p-aminobenzamidine dihydrochloride;bis(5-amidino-2-benzimidazolyl)methane;a,a′-bis(4-amidino-2-iodophenyl)-p-xylene;1,2-bis(5-amidino-2-benzofuranyl)ethane; and6-amidino-2-(4-amidinophenyl)benzo-[β]thiophene.

In other exemplary embodiments, the affinity moiety is a guanidine. Asused herein, the term “guanidine” includes guanidine and derivativesthereof (e.g., in which the hydrogen atom attached to the amidinonitrogen (═NH) is replaced by substituted or unsubstituted alkyl groups,substituted or unsubstituted heteroalkyl groups, substituted orunsubstituted aryl groups, and substituted or unsubstituted heteroarylgroups). In these embodiments, the guanidine derivative has thestructure:

in which the circle with the inset “C” represents a component of thecolumn or other solid support. The symbols R¹, R², R⁴, and R⁵ eachrepresent members independently selected from H, substituted orunsubstituted alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted heteroalkyl,substituted or unsubstituted aryl, and substituted or unsubstitutedheteroaryl groups. R³ is either present or absent and can have any ofthe identities set forth above, with the exception of H. Representativeguanidine-containing species include guanidinoacetic acid andderivatives thereof, substituted or unsubstituted guanidinobenzoic acid,arginine and analogues thereof (e.g., derivatized at the carboxy orα-amino group).

In yet other exemplary embodiments, the affinity moiety is anamine-containing species. Exemplary amine-containing species of use inpracticing the present invention include amino acids and amino acidanalogues (e.g., derivatized at the carboxy or α-amino group).Representative amino acids of use in the invention is lysine, aderivative thereof, ε-amino caproic acid, and the like.

The term “alkyl,” by itself or as part of another substituent, means,unless otherwise stated, a straight or branched chain, or cyclichydrocarbon radical, or combination thereof, which may be fullysaturated, mono- or polyunsaturated and can include di- and multivalentradicals, having the number of carbon atoms designated (i.e. C₁-C₁₀means one to ten carbons).

“Alkyl,” as used herein also encompasses “alkylene” groups. The term“alkylene” by itself or as part of another substituent means a divalentradical derived from an alkane, as exemplified, but not limited, by—CH₂CH₂CH₂CH₂—, and further includes those groups described below as“heteroalkylene.” Typically, an alkyl (or alkylene) group will have from1 to 24 carbon atoms, with those groups having 10 or fewer carbon atomsbeing preferred in the present invention. A “lower alkyl” or “loweralkylene” is a shorter chain alkyl or alkylene group, generally havingeight or fewer carbon atoms.

The term “heteroalkyl,” by itself or in combination with another term,means, unless otherwise stated, a stable straight or branched chain, orcyclic hydrocarbon radical, or combinations thereof, consisting of thestated number of carbon atoms and at least one heteroatom selected fromthe group consisting of O, N, Si and S, and wherein the nitrogen andsulfur atoms may optionally be oxidized and the nitrogen heteroatom mayoptionally be quaternized.

The term “aryl” means, unless otherwise stated, a polyunsaturated,aromatic, hydrocarbon substituent which can be a single ring or multiplerings (preferably from 1 to 3 rings) which are fused together or linkedcovalently. The term “heteroaryl” refers to aryl groups (or rings) thatcontain from one to four heteroatoms selected from N, O, and S, whereinthe nitrogen and sulfur atoms are optionally oxidized, and the nitrogenatom(s) are optionally quaternized. A heteroaryl group can be attachedto the remainder of the molecule through a heteroatom. Substituents foreach of the above noted aryl and heteroaryl ring systems are selectedfrom the group of acceptable substituents described below.

As noted above, the eluting agent is the same as, or is an analogue of,the affinity moiety used. Typically, the eluting agent will have greateraffinity for the SGT than the affinity moiety on the column. In someembodiments, the eluting agent is arginine. The concentration of theeluting agent (e.g., arginine) in the eluant is usually at least about0.5 M. It has been found that concentrations between about 0.5 M andabout 1.2 M in the eluant provides a preparation of SGT having a highpurity. Most preferred is a concentration between about 0.8 M and about1.0 M. The yield obtained by the methods of the invention is highercompared to prior art ion exchange chromatography methods.

In the method provided, SGT is selectively purified from a mixture ofvarious proteases, some of them, particularly chymotrypsin, have similarphysiochemical characteristics which are difficult to separate withknown methods. However, with the method of the invention using argininein a concentration between about 0.5 M and about 1.2 M in the eluant,SGT is selectively separated from other proteases in the PRONASEprotease mixture.

The eluant typically comprises arginine as the eluting agent and canhave a pH between about pH 4.0. and about 9.0., preferably between aboutpH 5.0 and about 7.0. Other amidine derivative analogues that can beused include, but are not limited to analogues of arginine such as thosewith modification on the carboxyl-end of the molecule (see, e.g., Kasai,K. (1992) J. Chromatography 597:3-18); peptides, containing arginine asthe C-terminal amino acid such as leupeptin, pepstatin (see, e.g.,Kasai, supra); lysine or analogues of lysine and peptides containinglysine as C-terminal amino acid; sulphamethoxazolum and derivativesthereof (see, e.g., Wu, X. and Liu, G. (1996) Biomedical Chromatography10:228-232); benzamidine and its analogues with modifications at the m-and/or p-positions; and guanidine and derivatives thereof (see, e.g.,Ellouali, et al. (1991) J. Chromatography 548:25-265).

The eluant can further comprise an inorganic salt. The inorganic saltcan be a salt from sodium, phosphate or sulfate. Generally, a sodiumsalt, such as NaCl is preferred. The inorganic salt can be in aconcentration between about 0.1 M and about 1 M. A concentration ofbetween about 0.5M and about 1.0 M in the eluting agent is preferred.

The method of the invention is conveniently carried out on an affinitychromatography column. Any matrix to which the affinity moiety can bebound can be used for the affinity carrier. Such matrix or carrier canbe selected from agarose, such as Sepharose® (Pharmacia), porousparticles or beads, such as Poros® (Applied Biosystems), or Toyopearl®(Tosohaas) or other carriers based on cellulose, dextrane, acrylate orsilicate.

In the methods of the invention, the PRONASE protease mixture ispreferably solubilized. The solubilizing agent can be a buffer, whereinthe buffer solution can be a Tris-HCl buffer, phosphate buffer, orsulfate buffer. Optionally, the buffer can comprise a salt, such assodium salts. The buffer preferably has a pH between about 6.0 and about8.0. The PRONASE protease mixture is contacted with the carrier matrixand SGT is selectively eluted by competitive elution, typically witharginine.

When utilizing arginine as the eluting agent, the purified SGT obtainedby this method is in a solution comprising about 0.5M to about 1.2Marginine. An advantage of this embodiment is that no stabilization agenthas to be added because of the stabilizing properties of the elutingagent (e.g., arginine) in the solution. Therefore, the purified SGT canbe stored without any further stabilizer in liquid. The SGT obtained bythe method has a purity of at least about 95%, preferably at least about98% and is essentially free of any other enzymes, such as e.g.chymotrypsin.

In some embodiments when the eluting agent is not physiologicallyacceptable, the eluting agent is removed from the purified SGT. Any of anumber of standard methods are used for this purpose. Such methodsinclude dialysis or ultrafiltration using membranes with appropriatemolecular weight cut off, allowing the eluting agents to pass through,while the SGT is retarded in the retentate. Such membranes are wellknown and can be manufactured from regenerated cellulose, PVDF,polyethersulfones and the like. Various chromatography techniques,making use of molecular differences such as size, charge,hydrophobicity, affinity and the like are also conveniently used. Othermethods involve precipitation of either the eluting agent or the SGT andrely on the different solubility properties of the eluting agentcompared to SGT. Generally, when high affinity eluting agents are used,the eluting agent must first be separated from the SGT before the agentcan be removed. This is typically done by changing environmentalparameters such as pH, ionic strength, temperature, dielectric constant,and the like. Such methods are also well known in the art.

The invention further provides preparations of purified SGT having apurity of at least about 95%. Often, the purified preparation comprisesarginine in a concentration of at least about 0.6 M arginine. The SGTpreparation of the present invention has a specific activity of at leastabout 25×10³ U/mg protein. Preferably, the specific activity is at leastabout 40×10³ U/mg protein.

A preparation of the invention is typically stable at room temperaturein a solution of between about 0.5M to about 1.2M arginine for at least2 weeks and at 4° C. for at least 4 weeks. For longer storage thepreparation can be kept frozen or can be lyophilized.

As used herein, “stable” means that the decrease of specific activity ofthe original preparation of SGT obtained directly by elution fromaffinity carrier is less than 5% at room temperature per 24 h.

“Purified preparation of SGT” means a preparation having a purity of atleast about 95% as determined by western blot analysis and HPLC. Thepurity of SGT can also be determined by residual chymotrypsin activityof the preparation. Possible residual chymotrypsin activity in thepreparation is determined by chymotrypsin specific enzyme test. Theseassays can be carried out, for example, as described in Example 1. Ifthe test results show no detectable chymotrypsin activity in thepreparation, the preparation is defined as free of chymotrypsinactivity.

“Specific activity” can be determined by a number of methods. Oneexample is a specific trypsin activity test, such as esterase activitywith a specific substrate, such as N-benzoyl-L-arginine ethyl ester(BAEE) orN-benzoyl-L-isoleucyl-L-glutamyl-glycyl-L-arginine-p-nitroanili-dehydrochloride (S222). These assays are carried out, for example, asdescribed in Examples 1 and 2.

“Specificity” means the specific inhibition of the purified SGT by atrypsin-specific inhibitor. The trypsin-inhibitor can be from a plant oran animal source, such as trypsin-inhibitor from soybeans or chicken eggwhite.

As a control for all enzymatic assays purified commercial availabletrypsin from a porcine or bovine source can be used.

When using a physiologically acceptable eluant such as arginine, themethods of the present invention are efficient and simple because only asingle chromatographic step is needed to obtain a highly purifiedpreparation of SGT. The preparation is stable in the eluting agent andcan be stored in the solution without significant loss of enzymaticactivity. With this method purified SGT with a good yield, high specificactivity and purity is obtained.

The invention provides for a method of purifying SGT by adsorbing theenzyme selectively to an affinity moiety (e.g., benzamidine) and elutingintact SGT by competitive elution with an analogue of the affinitymoiety (e.g., arginine). By using the very gentle method of competitiveelution, the bleeding of the ligand, such as benzamidine, into the finalproduct is avoided. Furthermore, the large excess of the eluting agent,e.g., arginine, inhibits the autocatalytic activity of the enzyme byavoiding autodigestion during preparation and storage and maintains astable purified product. Another advantage is that the final product canbe directly used for its intended purposes in a biotechnology process,since arginine is fully compatible with most cell culture orpurification processes.

The physiological characteristics of the final purification product madeaccording to the invention allow its direct use in e.g. cell culturetechniques, protein purification process or any other process wheretrypsin is used. Because of the very similar mode of action andspecificity, SGT can be used as a replacement for mammalian trypsin invirtually all biotechnological applications. When purified to a highdegree of uniformity, the enzyme can be inhibited completely by the wellknown trypsin inhibitors.

According to another aspect of the invention, the purified SGT of theinvention is used in a biological process, such as cell culturing, virusactivation or purification. For example, the purified SGT is used fordetachment of eukaryotic cells from a matrix, and optionally furthersubculture of the cells, or for inoculation in a fermenter. The SGT ofthe invention can be used for propagation of cells and/or production ofa cell culture biomass of vertebrate cells.

The SGT of the invention can also be used for production of a cellbiomass or for passaging of surface dependent eukaryotic cells onculture plates, Roux flasks, roller bottles or microcarrier culture. Theculture can be a monolayer culture, a microcarrier culture, forsuspension of cells from a layer, isolation and separation of cells fromtissue or preparation of primary cell culture. The vertebrate cell canbe any cell derived from a tissue of an animal, such as an organ, fromprimary cells or cells from a continuous cell line. Primary cells can befrom monkey kidneys, hamster kidneys, dog kidneys, ovarian or otherorgans known to be useful for production of primary cell cultures.Examples of cells from a continuous cell line are VERO; CV-1, CHO; BHK;MDCK; MRC-5, MDBK, WI-38, and include transformed, transfected andrecombinant cells.

The cells are preferably cultivated and grown in serum free medium. Themedium can be a minimal medium, such as DMEM or DMEM HAM's F12 and otherminimal media known in the art, such as described in Kistner et al.(1998) Vaccine 16:960-968. Most preferably, the cells are grown in aserum and protein free medium as described in WO 96/15213, WO 00/0300 orWO 01/23527, whereby said minimal medium can be supplemented withextracts of yeast or soy peptone.

According to another aspect of the invention the purified SGT is usedfor production of virus or virus antigen. The methods comprise the stepsof providing a cell culture, by passaging and subculturing the cellsusing purified SGT of the invention, growing the cells to a biomass andinfecting the cells with a virus. The cells are preferably cultivatedand grown in serum free or serum and protein free medium.

The methods provided by the invention combines a cellular biomass andvirus production process, wherein all steps are performed underconditions avoiding any mammal derived source, such as serum or proteinin the medium. Furthermore, during passaging and subculture the proteinload can be reduced due to the high specific activity of the SGT in thecell culture. The method therefore reduces the overall protein load ofcontaminating protein significantly.

Examples of viruses that can be used for the invention are those of thegroup of virus families of orthomyxoviridae, paramyxoviridae,reoviridae, picomaviridae, flaviviridae, arenaviridae, herpesviridae,poxyiridae, rhinoviridae and reoviridae and adenoviridae, preferablythose selected from the group of Poliovirus, Influenza virus, Ross RiverVirus, Hepatitis A Virus, Rubella virus, Rota Virus, Mumps virus,Measles Virus, Respiratory Syncytical Virus, Vaccinia Virus andrecombinant Vaccinia Virus, Herpes Simplex Virus, TBEV, Japaneseencephalitis Virus, West Nile Virus, Yellow Fever Virus and chimericsthereof. Methods for selecting an appropriate host cell and a virussusceptible to the host for propagation of the desired virus are wellknown. Cells can be selected from the cells as described above.

According to a particular embodiment, the purified SGT is used forproduction of virus or virus antigen, wherein the virus is activated bya protease. Such viruses are those selected from the group ofparamyxoviridae, orthomyxoviridae, rotaviridae. The methods comprise thesteps of providing a cell culture, wherein the cells have been passagedand subcultured using purified SGT of the invention, infecting the cellswith virus selected from the group of paramyxoviridae, orthomyxoviridae,rotaviridae, contacting the virus with purified SGT to activate thevirus, propagating the virus and harvesting virus produced.

For passaging and subculture of the cells, purified SGT of the inventionis added in an amount of between about 4 μg and about 1000 μg, dependingon the cell culture type, the culture or medium volume, and the specificactivity of the purified SGT used in the culture process. The amount ofprotein added for a static culture can be in the range of about 4 μg/150cm² to about 50 μg/150 cm², for a roller bottle in the range of about 50μg/850 cm² to about 100 μg/850 cm², and for a microcarrier culture inthe range of about 1000 μg to about 2000 μg/liter of medium with an SGTpreparation having a specific activity of about 26×10³ U/mg protein. Itis within the knowledge of a skilled artisan to determine the minimalamount of protease/protein needed for optimal passaging and subcultureconditions. The advantage of use of purified SGT of the invention is (i)to avoid protein from an animal source, and (ii) to reduce protein loaddue to the high specific activity of the SGT between at least 5 fold toat least 25 fold compared to a conventional cell culture, whereintrypsin from an animal source is used.

According to one aspect of the invention the purified SGT of theinvention is used for production of a cell biomass grown in serum andprotein free medium, wherein said biomass is passaged and subculturedusing purified SGT and the total protease protein load is reduced atleast by 75% compared to a cell culture cultivated under identicalconditions by use of mammalian-derived trypsin.

For activation of the virus, purified SGT of the invention can be usedin a total protein amount of about 10 μg to about 500 μg of culturevolume (cm² or cm³), depending of the specific activity of the purifiedSGT used. It is within the knowledge of a person skilled in the art tofollow the examples as described and adapt total protein amount neededof purified SGT having a particular specific activity of at least of2×10⁴ U/mg for optimal virus activation and further virus propagation.

By using purified SGT preparation for passaging subculture andoptionally virus activation, the protein load derived from biomassproduction and virus propagation process can be reduced at least by 75%,preferably at least 90% compared to a cell culture obtained byconventional methods.

By the method described a virus or virus antigen preparation isobtained, wherein the total protein load of contaminating proteinderived from the cells and the cell culture medium is reduced by atleast 75% compared to a preparation obtained by a conventional cellculture, that has been cultivated under similar conditions but usingmammalian derived trypsin.

The method as described above using purified SGT of the invention toculture cells and optionally activate virus can further comprise thestep of purifying the virus produced. Due to the low load ofcontaminating protein (protein which is not product/virus specific)residual contaminating protein can be removed by further purification.The purified virus preparation obtained can be further formulated in animmunogenic composition such as a prophylactic or therapeutic vaccine.

According to another aspect of the invention the purified SGT is used ina purification process. For a wide range of purification methodsspecific proteases, such as trypsin are used to degrade contaminatingproteins, which are then removed by further purification steps, such asfiltration, chromatography or centrifugation. The purified SGT of theinvention can be used efficiently in a purification method forpreparation of purified virus, such as HAV. It is within the knowledgeof a skilled person in the art to determine the minimal purified SGT ofthe invention needed for optimal conditions.

The purified SGT of the invention can also be used for the production ofrecombinant products from recombinant cells. This use comprises thesteps of providing a cell culture of recombinant cells expressing aforeign polypeptide or protein, wherein said cells are passaged andsubcultured using purified SGT of the invention, culturing the cellsunder conditions, whereby recombinant polypeptide or protein is producedand harvesting said recombinant polypeptide or protein produced. Thecells are preferably grown in serum or serum and protein free medium.The cells can be recombinant cells, such as recombinant CHO cells, beingable to express a recombinant protein.

By the method described a recombinant product is obtained, wherein totalprotein load of contaminating protein derived from the cells and thecell culture medium is reduced by at least 75% compared to preparationobtained by a conventional cell culture, that has been cultivated undersimilar conditions.

According to another aspect purified SGT of the invention is used forcontrolled processing of pro-proteins to their mature form, either inliquid or immobilized on an insoluble carrier as described, for example,in U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,844.

The purified SGT of the invention can be used for cleaning ofbiotechnological equipment, such as filters, fermenters etc. which arecontaminated by proteins, which can be digested by proteolytic activityof SGT.

Having now generally described this invention, the invention can beunderstood by reference to the following examples which are providedherein for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to belimiting.

EXAMPLE 1

Purification of Streptomyces Griseus Trypsin from PRONASE proteasemixture.

A. Ion Exchange Chromatography

30 g of PRONASE protease mixture (Boehringer Ingelheim) is dissolved inBuffer A (0.02 pyridin, pH 5.0) to a final concentration of 40 mg/mlPRONASE protease mixture. 25 ml of the solution is subjected to cationexchange chromatography on CM Sepharose Cl 6B (Pharmacia) equilibratedwith buffer A. The elution is performed at room temperature using alinear gradient with buffer A (0.02 M pryridin) and buffer B (0.02pyridin pH 5.0) with 5 times the column volume.

Collected fractions are tested for inhibiting properties by mixingsamples of the fractions with soy bean inhibitor in a 1:10 ratio (e.g. 1mg soy bean inhibitor/100 μg protein) followed by a chromatographicsubstrate assay using S2222. The results are expressed as A absorbanceunits per minute (ΔA/min). The fraction having the highest inhibitingactivity to soy bean inhibitor is further analyzed by SDS-PAGE andstained with Coomassie (FIG. 1, lane 1).

The trypsin activity is measured by chromogenic assay usingN-benzoyl-L-arginine ethyl ester (BAEE, in Tris buffer pH 8.0, 20 mMCaCl₂, 25° C.) as substrate and A absorbance units per minute isdetermined. As a control reference, porcine trypsin solution (1 mg/ml)with a specific activity of 13×10³U/mg is used. The specific activity isdefined as the units of trypsin enzyme activity per mg protein. Theresults are summarized in Table 1.

The chymotrypsin activity is measured by chromogenic assay using3-carboxymethoxypropionyl-L-arginyl-L-propyl-L-tyrosine-p-notroanilinehydrochloride (S-2586, Chromogenix). The results are expressed as ΔAabsorbance units per minute (ΔA/min).

TABLE 1 Purification of PRONASE protease mixture by ion exchangechromatography Streptomyces griseus PRONASE protease PRONASE proteasemixture mixture unpurified Purified fraction Protein (g)  1    0.08Specific activity U/mg 1.6 × 10³ 16.5 × 10³ Recovery U in % 100 70Stability by SDS-PAGE n.d. Unstable, low molecular weight fragmentationInhibition by soy bean inhibitor n.d. 90 ± 0.1 (% inhibition)Chymotryspin activity 450 38 (ΔA/min) *n.d. not determined

Table 1 shows that the fractions containing a protein havingtrypsin-like activity, as determined by inhibition test with soy beaninhibitor, can be purified by ion exchange chromatography with aspecific activity which is about 10 times higher than that of PRONASEprotease mixture and with a recovery of about 70%. However, the proteinis unstable and shows not a single band, but various bands in SDS-PAGE.This is indicative of fragmentation and autocleavage of the protein(FIG. 1, lane 1).

B. Affinity Chromatography on Immobilized Benzamidine

A Benzamidine Sepharose 6B fast flow (Pharmacia) column equilibratedwith buffer A (50 mM Tris, 0.5 M NaCl pH 7.0) is loaded with 40 ml of aPRONASE protease mixture solution (75 mg/ml, buffer A). Elution isperformed with buffer B (50 mM Tris, 0.5 M NaCl pH 7.0, 10 mMbenzamidine hydrochloride pH 7.0), buffer C (0.5 M NaCl, 0.6 M arginine,pH 5.5) or buffer D (0.5 M NaCl, 1 M arginine, pH 5.5).

The fractions collected are tested for inhibiting properties using soybean inhibitor, as well as trypsin and chymotrypsin activity asdescribed in Example 1A. The specific activity is determined as units ofenzyme activity per mg protein.

TABLE 2 Purification of PRONASE protease mixture by affinitychromatography on immobilized benzamidine and elution with benzamidineAFFINITY CHROMATOGRAPHY AND ELUTION WITH BENZAMIDINE (BUFFER B)Strepromyces griseus PRONASE protease PRONASE protease mixture mixtureunpurified Purified fraction Protein (g)  3 0.13 Specific activity U/mg1.6 × 10³ 19 × 10³ Recovery U in % 100 60    Stability by SDS-PAGEstable stable Inhibition by soy bean inhibitor n.d. 99.98 ± 0.1% (%inhibition) Chymotryspin activity n.d. 0.1  (ΔA/min)

The results summarized in Table 2 show that by competitive elution withbenzamidine, 60% of purified trypsin-like activity of PRONASE proteasemixture is recovered with a high specific activity. However, thepurified trypsin-like protease containing fraction is preferably furtherpurified and the benzaminide removed prior to use in processes whichinvolve cell culture growth or production of biologicals for applicationin humans.

TABLE 3 Purification of PRONASE protease mixture by affinitychromatography on immobilized benzamidine and elution with 0.6M arginineand 1M arginine Streptomyces griseus PRONASE protease PRONASE proteasemixture mixture unpurified Purified fraction AFFINITY CHROMATOGRAPHY ANDELUTION WITH 0.6M ARGININE (BUFFER C) Protein (g) 3  0.13 Specificactivity U/mg 1.6 × 10³ 26 × 10³ Recovery U in % n.d. 63   Stability bySDS-PAGE stable stable Inhibition by soy bean inhibitor n.d. 99.89 ±0.1% (% inhibition) Chymotrypsin activity n.d. <0.1 (ΔA/min) AFFINITYCHROMATOGRAPHY AND ELUTION WITH 1M ARGININE (BUFFER D) Protein (g) 3 0.13 Specific activity U/mg 1.6 × 10³ 46.5 × 10³ Recovery U in % n.d.71% Stability by SDS-PAGE stable stable Inhibition by soy bean inhibitorn.d. 99.99 ± 0.1% (% inhibition) Chymotrypsin activity n.d. <0.1(ΔA/min) LAL (EU/1000U) 88  <4  

As can be seen from results in Table 3, about 63% of the initialtrypsin-like activity of PRONASE protease mixture is recovered whenusing a buffer comprising 0.6 M arginine, whereas about 71% is recoveredwith a buffer comprising 1M arginine. The purified SGT eluted witharginine from a benzamidine affinity carrier also has a higher specificactivity compared to SGT obtained by ion exchange chromatography orelution with benzamidine from a benzamidine carrier. Further, a productof higher purity and specific activity is obtained when a buffercomprising increasing molarity of arginine is used.

Samples of the unpurified S. griseus PRONASE protease mixture, the flowthrough of the affinity chromatography column and the purified SGT ofthe elution with 1M arginine are analysed by SDS-PAGE (FIG. 2)

Samples of the fractions having the highest inhibiting activity to soybean inhibitor are further analyzed by western blot with anti-SGT serumderived from guinea pigs (FIG. 3). The purity of the SGT is determinedby analytical Reversed Phase HPLC, wherein purified SGT is loaded onto areverse phase column (Nucleosil 300-5C18-150×2 mm) and eluted with alinear gradient of acetonitril. The chromatogram of the reversed HPLC isgiven in FIG. 4. Purity is expressed as the relation of the main peak tothe total peak area. The Reversed Phase HPLC of purified SGTdemonstrated a purity of >95%. The chromatogram shows a sharp peak whichcorresponds to SGT. Online HPLC-electroscopy ionization massspectroscopy (ESI-MS) is used to determine the molecular weight ofpurified SGT. As such, the major peak of the chromatogram has amolecular weight of 23096.5 D, which is in excellent agreement with thetheoretical mass of 23099 D. The data is further corroborated by theassessment of the correct N-terminus(NH₂-V-V-G-G-T-R-A-A-Q-G-E-F-P-F-M-V-) SEQ ID NO:1.

The purified trypsin-like protease purified by single step affinitychromatography on benzamidine and eluted with arginine is stable in thearginine solution. The purified product shows a single band in SDS-PAGEand has no significant fragmentation to low molecular weightpolypeptides as can be seen in FIG. 1 (lane 2), whereas SGT purified byion exchange chromatography is fragmented into low molecular weightpolypeptide as seen in FIG. 1 (lane 1).

The affinity chromatography purification method by competitive elutionwith arginine results in a purified SGT having a purity of at least 95%,which is intact and stable, as shown by SDS/western blot and HPLC. Inaddition, it is substantially free of other protease activities,particular chymotrypsin, endotoxins and processes related impurities,such as benzamidine. Due to the high concentration of arginine in thepurified SGT preparation, the SGT is stable at room temperature for atleast 2 weeks and shows no autocatalytic activity, instability of theproduct, increase of SGT degradation products or loss of specificactivity. The stabilized SGT preparation in arginine solution of between0.5 M to 1.2 M (pH between 2 and 10) is physiologically acceptable inmost biological processes and is ready-to-use for further processes,such as activation of proteins, viruses or in purification methods asdescribed below.

EXAMPLE 2

Determination of Enzyme Activity of Porcine Trypsin and Purified SGTUsed for Cell Culturing of Mammalian Cells

The protein content and the esterase activity of each enzyme is measuredby the use of BAEE (N-benzoyl-L-arginine ethyl ester) as a substrate ofporcine trypsin (purity grade, type IX, crystallized, Sigma), PRONASEprotease mixture (purity grade, Boehringer Ingelheim) and purified SGTobtained by affinity chromatography on benzamidine Sepharose 6 B andelution with 0.6 M arginine according to Example 1B. The results of thisand further experiments are summarized in Table 4.

TABLE 4 Specific activity of proteases used for Vero culture experimentsBAEE activity Protein BAEE activity/Protein Protease (Units/ml) (μg/ml)(U/μg) Porcine Trypsin 12,555 940 13.4 Crude PRONASE 1,844 740 1.5protease mixture Purified SGT 8,564 330 26.0

EXAMPLE 3

Determination of Total Protein Load for Subculture of Serum andProtein-Free VERO Cells

VERO cells (African Green Monkey, Cercopthecus aethiops, kidney)obtained from the American Type Cell Culture Collection, Rockville, Md.at a passage number 124 under the designation ATCC CCL 81 are cultivatedin serum and protein-free medium. Cells are adapted to grow in serum orserum and protein free medium as described in Kistner et al. (1998)Vaccine 16:960-968, WO 96/15231, or U.S. Pat. No. 6,100,061. For growthin serum free medium, a basal DMEM HAM's F12 medium supplemented withinorganic salts, amino acids, sodium bicarbonate (2 g/l) and yeast orsoy bean extract (0.1 to 10 g/l) is used. The working cell bank isprepared without the use of any animal derived medium components. Oneampoule of a working cells bank (WCB) of VERO cells cultivated in DMEMmedium mixed with Ham's F 12 nutrient mixture in a ratio 1:1 isresuspended in serum free medium supplemented either with soy bean oryeast extract.

Different protein concentrations between 1 μg and 10,000 μg of porcinetrypsin (purity grade, type IX, crystallized, Sigma), PRONASE proteasemixture (purity grade, Boehringer Ingelheim) and purified SGT having aspecific activity as determined in Example 2 are added to staticcultures of T-flasks, cells in roller bottles or cells bound tomicrocarriers. The total protein amount of trypsin, PRONASE proteasemixture and purified SGT needed for complete cell detachment andsubsequent attachment (subculturing) cultures is given in Table 5.

Table 5 shows that when using purified SGT, the total protein load ofprotease for cell detachment and passaging in a static culture isreduced to 4%, in roller bottles to 17% and in the microcarrier culturesystem to 20% compared to the amount needed when using trypsin.

TABLE 5 Comparison of total protein amount of protease needed forcomplete cell detachment and subculture of VERO cells Porcine PurifiedSGT Reduction of Cell Culture Type Trypsin (μg) (μg) Protein Load StaticCulture 100 4 25X  (150 cm²) Roller Bottle 300 51 6X (850 cm²)Microcarrier Culture 5,000 1,000 5X (1 liter)

EXAMPLE 4

Comparison of Mammalian-Derived Trypsin, PRONASE Protease Mixture andPurified SGT on Cell Growth

On a small scale basis, cell attachment and proliferationcharacteristics of Vero cells grown in static cultures (T-flasks) andmicrocarrier cultures (Cytodex3®, Pharmacia) are compared. VERO cellsare cultivated as described above in serum and protein free medium.

VERO cells are either grown in T-flasks or on microcarriers (37° C., CO₂concentration 5-10%.). Subculture is performed as determined in Example3 by using porcine trypsin (purity grade, type IX, crystallized, Sigma)and PRONASE protease mixture (purity grade, Boehringer Ingelheim) inT-flasks in a final amount of 100 μg and in microcarrier culture of 5000μg. Purified SGT with a specific activity of 2.6×10⁴ U/mg is added toT-flask culture in final amount of 4 μg and in microcarrier culture of1000 μg. Cell attachment and cell growth are measured by visualinspection and counting of non-attached cells and are expressed asproliferation activity. Table 6 shows proliferation activity expressedin % of total amount of VERO cells either grown in T-flasks or onmicrocarriers.

TABLE 6 Effect of Trypsin, PRONASE protease mixture, and SGT onproliferation activity of cells Cell culture type Protease (μg) T-flaskTrypsin PRONASE Purified SGT 100 μg protease 4 μg mixture 100 μgAttachment/Growth 90-100% 90-95% 90-100% Microcarrier Culture TrypsinPRONASE Purified SGT 5000 μg protease 1000 μg mixture 5000 μg AttachmentGrowth 95-100% 70% 95-100%

As shown in Table 6, crude PRONASE protease mixture did not allowsufficient repeated transfer of Vero cells grown in serum-free medium,whereas purified SGT is as effective as porcine trypsin, but with asignificantly reduced final protein load.

EXAMPLE 5

Virus Antigen Production in Vero Cells Using Purified SGT

5.1 In Vivo Activation of Influenza Virus and Virus Production in RollerBottles

Two Vero cultures are grown in roller bottles to confluency with a finalcell density of about 2×10⁸ per unit. The cultures are infected withInfluenza virus strain Nanchang A/H₃N₂ with a m.o.i. of 0.01. PorcineTrypsin (total protein amount: 500 μg) or purified SGT (total proteinamount: 50 μg) are added for in vivo activation of Influenza virus whichallows further virus propagation. After 48 hours the hemagglutinationactivity in the culture is determined.

TABLE 7 In vivo activation of Influenza virus with Trypsin or purifiedSGT Trypsin Purified SGT Amount of enzyme 500 μg 50 μg HAU/ml after 48hrs 2560 2560

The data given in Table 7 show that for efficient in vivo activation ofInfluenza virus and virus propagation about 1/10 of the total proteinamount of purified SGT is needed compared to mammalian-derived trypsin.Therefore, the use of purified SGT allowed a 90% reduction in totalprotein load during the in vivo activation step and yielded similarInfluenza virus propagation in Vero cells as compared tomammalian-derived trypsin.

5.2 Large Scale Production of Influenza Virus Antigen on Cells Grown onSerum and Protein-Free Medium and Use Purified SGT for Virus Activation

One ampoule of a working cells bank (WCB) of VERO cells cultivated inDMEM medium mixed with Ham's F12 nutrient mixture in a ratio 1:1 isresuspended in serum free medium supplemented either with soy bean oryeast extract. Vero cells with a defined passage number are thawed fromliquid nitrogen and passaged in roux and roller bottles to producesufficient cells to inoculate a 1.5 liter bioreactor. The cells aregrown at 37° C. for 6-8 days. The culture conditions of oxygensaturation 20%±10% and pH 7.1±0.2 and stirring speed of 30-60 rpm arecontrolled. After reaching the final cell density of 1.5 (1.0-2.0)×10⁶cells/ml, the cells are detached by purified SGT (1 mg/liter) andtransferred to a 10 liter bioreactor with a microcarrier concentrationof 2.5 g/l (Cytodex III®, Pharmacia). The cell number is determined bytrypsinization of the cells and counted with a CASY® cell counter. Thecells are cultured under confluent culture conditions to reach a biomasshaving a cell density of 1.0-1.5×10⁶ cells/ml.

The biomass is either infected with Influenza virus strain Nanchang orstrain Texas-36. During the process of virus propagation and for furtherlytic infection cycles of Influenza virus, the virus is activated by theaddition of purified SGT in a concentration of 150 μg/liter. Table 8summarizes Influenza virus production, as determined by HAU/ml, after 72hours.

TABLE 8 Production of different Influenza Virus strains after activationwith purified SGT HAU/ml Influenza strain after 72 hrs A/Nanchang 033/9510,240 A/Texas-36 5,120

According to the results, as given in Table 8, Vero cells passaged andscaled up with purified SGT propagated efficiently and producedInfluenza virus in large scale bioreactors.

EXAMPLE 6

Purity of Influenza Virus Antigen Obtained by Propagation on Cells Grownon Serum and Protein Free Medium and Use of SGT or Trypsin for VirusActivation

Two parallel cell cultures of Vero cells are propagated to a biomass asdescribed in Example 5.2, whereby one is passaged and subcultured withTrypsin and one with purified SGT in roux and roller bottles to producesufficient cells to inoculate a 1.5 liter bioreactor. After reaching thefinal cell density of 1.5 (1.0-2.0)×10⁶ cells/ml, the cells are detachedby purified SGT or Trypsin and transferred to a 10 liter bioreactor witha microcarrier concentration of 2.5 g/l. After reaching confluentculture conditions by reaching a cell density of 1.0-1.5×10⁶/ml thebiomass is infected with Influenza virus strain Texas-36 (m.o.i. 0.01).For virus activation purified SGT or Trypsin is added to the respectivecell culture. At the end of the virus propagation process the clarifiedsupernatant harvest containing the virus is purified byultracentrifugation on a sucrose gradient. The purity of the sucrosegradient purified antigen is determined by the antigen to protein ratio.The concentration of hemagglutinin is determined by single radialimmunodiffusion (SRD), as described by Wood et al. (1977) J. Biol.Stand. 5:237-247, and the results are compared after 72 hrs for strainA/Texas-36. The results are summarized in Table 9.

TABLE 9 Comparison of purity of Influenza virus preparations propagatedby use of purified SGT or Trypsin. HAU/ml SRD SRD/Protein Activatingprotease after 72 hrs (μg/liter) Ratio Purified SGT 5,120 1245 0.32Trypsin (porcine) 10,240 1125 0.13

The Influenza virus preparation obtained from Vero cells passaged andscaled up with purified SGT allowed the production of virus antigen withlower protein contamination. These results show that after a simplefirst purification step, a higher purity virus preparation is obtainedas compared to using trypsin. Furthermore, an increase in volumetricbioreactor productivity (expressed as total SRD per reactor volume) of45% has been obtained.

EXAMPLE 7

Production of Hepatitis A Virus

7.1 Production of HAV Antigen on Cells Grown on Serum and Protein FreeMedium

Full length cDNA of the genome of attenuated strain HM175/7 cloned intothe bacterial plasmid pHAV/7 (Cohen et al., (1987) J. Virol.61:3035-3039) is used to prepare full length genomic RNA by in vitrotranscription. Serum and protein free VERO cells at 34° C. aretransfected with in vitro transcribed HAV RNA to generate virus stocksof HAV HM175/7 free of adventitious agents. VERO cell biomass isprepared according to Example 5.2.

For large scale production of HAV HM175/7 virus, VERO cell cultures at abiomass of 1×10¹¹ cells are seeded on a microcarrier and propagated at37° C. under serum free medium conditions in a 100 liter fermenter. Thetemperature is lowered to 34° C. and during the subsequent fermentationcycles the cell number increases 8 to 10 fold. The cells are infected inthe final fermenter with HAV at a m.o.i. of 0.01 to 0.1. Propagation ofthe infected cells at 34° C. up to 350 days can be performed withpermanent perfusion of the cell culture medium. When virus antigen isdetected in the medium, the virus containing supernatant is collectedand stored at 4° C. The harvest of the cell culture supernatant isstarted at days 35-45 after infection.

7.2 Purification of HAV Harvest and Characterization of Purified HAV

The HAV harvest of cell culture supernatant of Example 7.1 isconcentrated 100 times by ultrafiltration on a Prostak Ultrafilter 200 Kfollowed by a diafiltration step (Prostak 200 K, Diafilter) with abuffer exchanged to 50 mM Tris buffer pH 8.0, 0.01% Tween. Residual hostcell nucleic acid that may be present in the preparation is removed byincubation of the Diaretenate with Benzonase®, an endonuclease fromSerratia marcescens, commercially available as Benzonase® (BenzonPharmaA/S) in a concentration of 1000 U/I (solved in 1 mM MgCl₂) for 3hours at room temperature. Subsequently, purified Streptomyces griseustrypsin (SGT) at a concentration of 0.5 to 5 U/ml is added and theretentate is further incubated for 24 hours at room temperature. Thehost cell contaminants, i.e. nucleic acids and/or proteins, are removedby diafiltration on a 100K membrane with a 20 mM PBS pH 7.4 as buffer.

Samples containing at least 1000 ELISA units/ml of HAV antigen are takenduring each filtering step, subjected to SDS-PAGE, and silver stained tovisualize total protein or analyzed by western blot analysis todetermine HAV specific antigens. HAV specific antigens are identified bywestern blot analysis using an antiserum specific for HAV capsidproteins. It could be shown that HAV precursor proteins are removedduring the purification process. HAV specific polypeptides are detectedin the starting material of cell culture supernatant that are notpresent in the diaretentate after treatment with purified SGT whereasthe HAV specific capsid proteins VP1, VP2 and VP3 are not affected byprotease treatment. The analysis of different intermediates by silverstaining and western blot clearly demonstrates the efficacy of theprotease treatment purification procedure using purified SGT.

Western blot analysis using an antiserum raised against VERO cellproteins showed that in the starting material and purificationintermediates of a broad range of predominantly high molecular weightVERO proteins are detectable. However, in the final retentate only minorVERO cell protein contaminants are detectable. This shows that thetreatment with the highly purified SGT efficiently degrades VERO cellprotein contaminants and HAV precursor polypeptides during HAVproduction and purification process.

EXAMPLE 8

Activation of Prothrombin to Thrombin by Immobilized Purified SGT andRecovery of the Thrombin by Affinity Chromatography

Purified SGT (100 mg protein/g wet gel) is coupled to agarose-gel (5000BAEE U SGT/ml gel). A glass-column is filled with 0.1 ml of immobilizedSGT-agarose and recombinant prothrombin is subjected to the immobilizedSGT under identical conditions are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,844.Thrombin is isolated and prepared according to the method describe inU.S. Pat. No. 6,010,844, which method is incorporated herein byreference.

The above examples are provided to illustrate the invention but not tolimit its scope. Other variants of the invention will be readilyapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and are encompassed by theappended claims. All publications, patents, and patent applicationscited herein are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

1. A method of using a purified preparation of Streptomyces griseustrypsin (SGT) having a purity of at least 95% and a specific activity ofat least about 25×10³ U/mg protein, and further comprising arginine, ina biological process; the method comprising providing a cell culture ofcells, passaging and subculturing the cells with the purifiedpreparation of SGT; and growing the cells to a biomass; wherein thebiological process selected from the group consisting of production of avirus or virus antigen, production of a recombinant product fromrecombinant cells, or production of a cellular biomass grown in serumand protein free media.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the biologicalprocess is the production of virus or virus antigen, and the methodfurther comprises infecting the cells of the biomass with a virus, andincubating said cells to propagate said virus.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the virus is selected from the group consisting ofparamyxoviridae, orthomyxoviridae, and rotaviridae, and the methodfurther comprises adding the purified preparation to activate said virusand harvesting said virus produced.
 4. The method according to claim 3,further comprising purifying said virus produced.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein the biological process is the production of a recombinantproduct from recombinant cells, and the method further comprisesculturing said cells under conditions in which recombinant product isproduced, and harvesting said recombinant product produced.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the biological process is the production ofthe cell culture biomass grown in serum and protein free medium, andwherein the steps of passaging and subculturing the cells and growingthe cells to a biomass are performed in serum and protein-free medium,and further, wherein the total protease protein load is reduced at leastby 75% compared to a cell culture cultivated under identical conditionsusing mammalian-derived trypsin.
 7. A method of using a purifiedpreparation of Streptomyces griseus trypsin (SGT) having a purity of atleast 95% and a specific activity of at least about 25×10³ U/mg protein,and further comprising arginine, for purification of a virus or virusantigen, the method comprising adding the purified preparation to apreparation comprising virus or virus antigens, whereby contaminatingproteins are degraded, and removing degraded contaminating proteinsusing filtration, chromatography or centrifugation.
 8. A method of usinga purified preparation of Streptomyces griseus trypsin (SGT) having apurity of at least 95% and a specific activity of at least about 25×10³U/mg, and further comprising arginine, to activate proteins frompro-proteins, the method comprising contacting the pro-proteins with thepurified preparation, whereby the proteins are activated from thepro-proteins.